Reset – Arnel Aquino, SJ

If you go to Wikipedia and search “list of dates predicted for apocalyptic events,”you’llsee that thespecific datesofthe world’s end has been predicted at least 190 timesby many, many individualsfrom the 1stmillennium until today.The forecastersrange from cult leaders toChristianmystics, fromCatholicbishopsand saints(like Hilary of Poitiers,Martin of Tours, Irenaeus) toProtestants(Martin Luther, John Wesley). Even four mathematicians(scientists!)are on the list,and one calculated the year of the world’s end based on the numbers in the Book of Revelation.I was surprised to seePat Robertsonon the list,the leader of the 700 Club, who said we’d all be dead by1982.But you’ll also besurprisedto seeChristopher Columbus here whoalso predicted the end.Howtheworld would endis alsoindicated, like:a final world war; aglobalforestfire; nuclear holocaust;a comet;a computer crash (remember Y2K?);aflying saucer!

Regarding today’s Gospel, did Jesusreallypredict the destruction of Jerusalemin 70AD, roughly40 years after hisdeath?Markand Luke soundlike he did.However,bible scholars saythatend-of-the-worldscenarioswe findintheGospelsareechoes of three “voices,” so to speak:(a)OTapocalyptic (especially fromDaniel),(b)the despairand hopeofearly church communities that werepersecuted, and (c)the despairand hopeofour Lordhimself.In other words,wecan’tbe absolutely sure if Jesus really predicted thedestruction ofJerusalem, and even less,the end of the world.Yet,no matter how many times wereadthatJesushimselfsaid“no one but the Father”knows when heaven and earth will pass away,and kno matter thatevery single one of the 190+ forecasters down world history was shamelessly wrongin their“prophecies,”still,somebody willcrawlout of the woodwork and come up with yet another dateforthe end ofthe world, and worse, many Catholicswillget nervousbecause, “What if he’sright this time!?”Why?!

Roller coasters and horror films—they have something in common, do you know?The most terrifying moment is when weanticipatethe worst—and that happenswhen the roller coaster is just about toplungeover the crest, and when the ghost is just about to pop onto thescreen.After making the plunge and after screaming when the ghost appears,weimmediatelyrealizethatthe worstwe anticipatedwasn’tso scary after all.In fact, wewould even do it all over again, if only to feelstrangecomfortin anticipating the worst, only to realize it hasn’t actually killed us.

A bible scholarsaysthatapocalpyticwritingin Scriptureis the “literature of the dispossessed.”End-of-the-world scenarios, he says,arisefrom“oppressed or alienated people who have little chance of fighting back against the powerful,(little chance)of gaining political, military, and economic power.”They’re not predictions as much as expressions of hope, prayers for salvation, a communal yearning for an end toagony,tyranny,strife.I look at today’s doomsday prophecies ina similarlight. Anticipating the worst happeningto the worldislikeareset button.When wewitnessworsening injustice, violence, corruption, moral depravity, weimaginativelyanticipatea historical catastrophe. Itwill wipeout all evilpeople. Itwillput anendtoallthesufferingthey’recausing.Andthereafter,God gives us backoriginal peace and justice. Godrestoresprimordial harmony.Everything resets. We all reset. We begin anew.

But that kind ofanend is not Jesus’s concern intheGospels. I dare say it has never been. Never mind whatnightmareshappento the earthin a future nobodyexcept the Fatherknows. What we must anticipate, Jesus says,is the real possibility ofpersecution, mockery,judgment thatpeople will level on us,evenas we try our best to beChrist-like.Powerful people will wish us harmand do us harm.They willblackball usbyplayingupour past failuresto becloudour present goodness. They will goad usinto showingour bad side, trigger us to retaliate, badmouth us to fellow authoritiesand toour friends.“You will be hated by all because of my name,” Jesussays.Then comes his reassuring consolation: “But not a hair on your head will be destroyed.By your perseverance,you will secure your lives.”

In other words, we can anticipate the worst thingsthatpeople can ever do to us, but themostwonderful thingof allis thatno matter the plunge and the scream, it’s not going to kill us. There is areset button,butitis not with them.“I myself,” Jesus says,“shall give you a wisdom…that all your adversaries will be powerless to resist or refute.”The reset button, dear sisters and brothers,iswith God…as it has always been ans will always be.Whenhe presseshis gentle, creative, lovinghand upon it, hewillmake all things new.